Category Archives: Winter

Dangerous Cold

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Ice flowing toward the driveway

As I write this, a couple hours after darkness has fallen, it is zero degrees. That is pretty cold. I’m not talking Celsius here. And the temperature is dropping. Here is the quick forecast from the National Weather Service:

A 20 percent chance of snow showers before 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -11. Wind chill values as low as -29.

It is no night for streaking. It is frostbite weather. This morning it was nine degrees when we headed outside to meet the school bus, and windy. Our neighbors have a small pond just up the hill and it is not sealed well. It leaks, slowly, into the grasses next to our driveway. Until this winter, that slow seep flowed into our driveway and we had an icy hazard on the approach to the road. Since we had our driveway regraded last summer, and the ditch next to it re-dug, the seep fills the ditch. It is getting full now, as the water turns to ice.

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It is pretty cool to watch the ditch fill. There is a slushy layer before the ice reaches the ditch, then it is like flowed land. I can’t tell you how happy I am that that is not in the driveway. The past couple of winters we have had some treacherous moments.

We will have some cold days this week, but mostly seasonal weather. The forecast doesn’t call for any more sub-zero temps. Still, I don’t plan to be walking around in flip flops any time soon. I got a new down jacket for Christmas. I’ll be keeping that puppy handy. Plus boots. And a travel mug. Need to keep the inside warm, too, right?

Christmas at Home

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We celebrate Christmas in our house. And boy do we gear up for it. The weekend after Thanksgiving we get a tree (a fir, cut from the tree farm down the road) shove into the van and set it up. By December 1st we have a trimmed tree, lights up, holiday themed dishware out on the table and more to come.

By Christmas Eve, we are ready to go–gifts wrapped, holiday music playing, a full refrigerator, stockings hung, festive as can be. So by Christmas morning the anticipation is pretty high. We spent the tail end of Christmas Eve at my sister-in-law’s place and so did not get home until later than the usual bedtime. Not that it mattered. Our kids were so excited that they had a hard time falling asleep. My son did not fall asleep until at least 11:00. He woke up around 4:00. He had the crazy idea that 4:00 was the time to get up and head downstairs. We had to put him off until 5:00. It was an early morning.

We had stockings stuffed with small gifts and opened those gifts first. We took a break for a waffle breakfast. We had a fire in the woodstove that heated things up fast–temperatures were in the forties. Some snow stayed on the ground at least. We had a lot of snow but then had two days of rain to wash most of it away. It was patchy Christmas morning but it was there at least. We opened gifts throughout the morning and early afternoon, trying to make it last. It is a pretty special day.

I took a short walk after our afternoon dinner. The breeze felt warm and clouds drifted across the gray sky. The water in the river was high with all the melted snow. Fields were flooded. A crescent moon dangled behind the clouds. The road was muddy. It was quiet. I thought about how this day is about giving and love and it made me want to simplify my life, get to what matters most more often.

The kids were asleep early. My daughter resisted the idea of going to bed earlier than usual, but she conked out pretty much immediately. My wife and I stayed up for a while, enjoying the quiet and the lights. We felt like successful parents, fostering the joy of the day, creating memories and all that. It turned out to be magical for all of us. After we turned out the lights and said goodnight to the tree, we headed to bed. It didn’t take long for us to conk out ourselves.

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Snow Day Follow-Up

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So it turns out we did have a snow day after my last post. The snow fell fast and wet and heavy overnight and it was a slick morning. Schools all over were cancelled. Only Burlington and South Burlington stayed open. They rarely close. Everyone in our house stayed put.

Everything was coated with snow because the snow was so wet when it first fell. And that wet snow was heavy, so it meant lots of dropping trees, then lots of broken branches. I walked out in it as it fell early in the morning. It was beautiful. The river gurgled under the bridge, and a few chickadees whistled. Otherwise it was quiet. Few people were out so even the sound of cars was rare. I like that kind of morning.

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Snow clinging to branches

The town plow came by a few times later in the day and we flopped around out in it for a while. As it got dark, the power went out. We rarely lose power. Green Mountain Power is great about keeping lines clear and the power on. So when we lose power it means power lines are really getting the what for.

We lit candles and stoked the wood stove and cooked pasta on the camp stove. We were cozy and set. Power did not, however, return the next morning. It was not until over 24 hours later that our lights came back on. We were fine, of course, and it made us realize how much we rely on electricity. The real bummer was not having water. Since we need electricity to pump water up from the well, no power means no water. We melted snow on the wood stove to flush toilets and we had filled a few bottles to get us by, but we did need to truly be careful with our water usage.

Many people were without power for many days. We had a second snow day and over the weekend we drove Route 17 over Appalachian Gap, the pass through the Green Mountains. We saw lots of dark houses and lots of power company trucks. We were, as always, lucky. We have nothing to complain about. We got to go skiing that weekend. We have first-world problems.

It looks like rain will wash away the snow by Christmas. We could get a couple inches of rain. That will make things soggy. It is officially winter. I wish that meant we would get only snow when precipitation fell. That, I am afraid, ain’t happening.

Droopy trees on the trail

Droopy trees on the trail

Snow Day on the Way?

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Two days ago I had the privilege to be part of a rare event. I checked the weather and noticed that a winter storm watch had been posted for later in the week. This in itself is not unusual. It is December and a storm watch is to be expected. What was special about it was that my wife had not yet noticed it.

My wife is a weather junky. Some people don’t pay attention to the weather and some people do. She falls in to the latter category. But she goes beyond just wanting to know if we will have rain later in the day. She goes to the NOAA web site and reads the meteorologist discussion page. This is where the National Weather Service meteorologists post their ideas about what they think will happen with the weather. Will the storm stall? Will the front move farther north? Will there be enough moisture to produce more or less snow? That kind of thing.

But I noticed first. That just doesn’t happen. I wish I could say it was because of some effort on my part, but frankly, it was just luck. That made me a little bit happy (well, enough for a fist pump or two) but it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that we are forecast to get a bunch of snow, regardless of which model is right. We might get a foot, we might get half that. Either way, it will be a snowy wonderland around here.

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Snow just starting to stick this afternoon

It started snowing early this afternoon. Rain mixed in on and off, but now that the sun has dropped, along with the temperature, we have light snow. Tonight it will come down harder. The timing could be just right for a snow day. This, of course, is exciting. I still get the thrill when I hear that school is cancelled. That just doesn’t go away I suppose. I have mixed feelings about it these days, however. Whenever school gets cancelled it is a hassle for me. I work in schools so a snow day means I have to reschedule. In a month like December, which is shortened already by the holiday break, there just aren’t many days to do that.

Whether I like it or not, however, I am still encouraged the idea of getting lots of snow. It means possibly skiing around the field and snow forts and sledding and snowballs. We were planning to go alpine skiing this coming weekend with whatever snow was available. Looks like that will work out for us pretty well.

Cold Day to Look for Birds

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December is well under way, which means I only have a few days left to see how many birds I can find in my home county. Last year my count was 174 so I wanted to best that this year. I reached that goal months ago but kept going. I figured 200 was just a little too far out of reach but as I inched closer I thought it just might be possible. Yesterday I was at 193. Today I got up to 194.

I had heard that snowy owls had been seen on the lake and I wanted to try to see one myself. I have tried to find them, but I have struck out. I headed to Sand Bar State Park early this morning even though it was cold–18 degrees–and it was windy. With ice on the lake, and the wind blowing in right off the water, it was bitterly cold. I started off well by seeing a Rough Legged Hawk. They are not common but head south to our area in the winter. I got a really close look at it so felt the morning was a win already. I also saw ten Northern Pintails, beautiful ducks with a brown face and white neck. Again, I got close enough to see them well, and ten is a lot to see at once. So I was happy enough.

As I was watching the ducks (and there were many other ducks there as well) I missed a Snowy Owl glide in and land on a log nearby. I looked up and couldn’t believe it had landed right there. I watched it through binoculars and through my spotting scope and then figured I might as well try to get closer. I walked toward it and it did not fly away. I got close enough to get the above shot.

I watched it for a while. I had seen one last winter but this was a much better sighting. The sun had come up by then and was low in the sky, so when it peeked out from the clouds, the owl was bathed in golden light. But mostly it was cloudy, and did I mention the wind? I had on lots of warm duds, including snow pants and a down jacket, but the wind managed to creep in. My hands, especially, got cold. I kept warming them and they kept getting cold. Apparently t is time to break out the thicker gloves.

The owl, and the Pintails, were still there when I walked away; I was too cold to observe any longer. I warmed up in the car and headed to the corner store for a cup of hot coffee for the ride home. The owl was still on that log, a white ghost in my rear view mirror as I drove off. All those people driving by on Route 2 couldn’t see it, but there was an unusual and beautiful creature right there if they slowed down and looked. It is easy to miss things of beauty as we race along. It was seriously cold this morning, but I am glad I slowed down to look. Six more species by the end of December? I’ve got a bit more slowing down to do in these next weeks to reach that goal.

Snow on the Ground

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A couple of days ago we got our first snow. It covered the ground and the snowplow even passed to spread sand. It stuck around for a day. We still have some snow remnants in the shadows. We have been getting snow showers on and off these past few days.

I still haven’t planted garlic. I just looked at the weather and it looks to stay close to or below freezing all week. I think I might have blown it. Once the ground really freezes up it will be too late. I might get a chance, but the pace I have been working on getting things done these days might mean that task stays undone.

Winter has made itself known. Bring in an armload of wood and stoke the fire. It’s cold out. And it isn’t heating up any time soon.

 

Watching the Feeders

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Hairy Woodpecker going for seeds

Hairy Woodpecker going for seeds

Somehow or other I heard about Project Feederwatch this fall. It seemed easy enough–sign up, watch my feeders and surrounding area each week, report what I see. Piece of cake. So I signed up. I watched my feeders and reported what I saw. Sunday and Monday were my days to watch (the project requires two consecutive days each week). I looked forward to getting up Sunday morning and seeing what was out there.

It was a great way to take the time to look outside. I would count all the birds I could see of any species that I could see at any one time. It really was not hard to do. I got pretty excited when I got to report something that wasn’t around previously. Each time I would see American Tree Sparrows and Blue Jays and Chickadees. I often would see Juncos (they liked the morning hours) and a pair of Red Tailed Hawks hung around later in the season. I saw a total of 21 different species from November to April. It was another great way to get to know the place I live a little better.

The thing is, I miss it. Now that spring is here I go out birding. I get to see a much bigger swath of my place. And I see a lot more birds. But those Tree Sparrows? They aren’t around any more. They left the same time the Chipping Sparrows arrived. And I mean exactly. One the Tree Sparrows were there, the next day the Chippers were there. Tree Sparrows were a comfort of sorts–seeing them another day was a sign that one more day was real and full of things to wonder at. I sat at the window with a cup of coffee, comfortable as I watched the birds simply do what they needed to do to survive. I wondered what happened when it got below zero and I wondered where they were when some of them simply didn’t show up. Now I just am lucky to see what I see; amazing but not comforting.

I signed up for next year already. I will need to remember my registration number–not sure how I’ll make that happen. In the meantime I am going to try to see as many bird species as I can in my county this year. I’m aiming for 175. Right now, since January first, I am at 103. A good start.

Hairy Woodpecker in the woods today

Hairy Woodpecker in the woods today

Snow Day Number Two

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We had another snow day today. The snow fell all last night and most of the day today. It is hard to tell just how much snow fell. The wind blew hard. We may have gotten two feet. We had “blizzard-like” conditions. A blizzard needs to have sustained winds of 35 miles per hour for three hours. We did not quite meet that definition. A severe blizzard also has temperatures of 10 degrees or lower. We started the day at 14 degrees. So I guess we just had a snowstorm.

I stayed inside for a while, although the kids did get out early. They didn’t last long in the cold and wind, but they went out several times throughout the day. I figured I would start with breakfast. Since I did not have to drive anywhere I used what would have been my commuting time to make home fries.

I paired these hot crispy potatoes with a hot omelette

I paired these hot crispy potatoes with a hot omelette

The snow did let up eventually. I took a walk in the afternoon when it was falling lightly, although the wind was still pretty fierce.

The town road crew got the road passable, but wind kept the drifts coming

The town road crew got the road passable, but wind kept the drifts coming

There's a river under there somewhere

There’s a river under there somewhere

By the end of the day the sun came out for a bit, the light low across the white landscape. Before the sun set the world turned pink. After a dinner of soup and hot sandwiches, we all headed back outside again. We fell backward off the hill into a huge snowdrift and flipped upside down into the pile the plow had left. We tossed snow at each other in the dark. We came inside red-faced and a little soggy. After some reading together the children headed up to bed. Two days off and they are back to school tomorrow. I worked a bunch from home today but I am back at it myself once the sun comes up. It was a great couple of days in our house. We have to enjoy the snow when it comes, and we did.

Late day sun on Camel's Hump

Late day sun on Camel’s Hump

 

Not Spring Now

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Snow coming down hard

Snow coming down hard

It started snowing early in the day. School was cancelled. Then the snow let up. I went to work. Luckily I only was in town half the day. The drive home was slick and slow. Then it really started to snow. By late in the day it was coming down and the wind picked up. And the temperature dropped. We had ourselves a snowstorm.

I went for a ski around the field. It was fine when I had my back to the wind but heading into the wind–ouch! Those little crystals of ice are painful when they slam into one’s face. My hood was a handy tool. By my second lap my ski tracks were almost filled in.

Skiing in the blowing snow

Skiing in the blowing snow

This morning the snow was still falling. Drifts piled against the house. I could only see out half the bedroom window. No school today. I will get some work done from home. First, however, I plan to rekindle the fire in the stove and to brew some coffee. And to appreciate being warm inside.

A Little Too Close?

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On the Prowl for Breakfast

On the Prowl for Breakfast

A pair of coyotes have now been hanging around our field for several days now. We see them early in the morning, hunting for mice and voles in the fields. They have been having a good go of it. I have watched them catch several. They walk quietly across the snow, listening. When one hears something under the snow, it leaps up pounces through the surface with its front paws, and then jams its snouts right down in it. Sometimes they come up with a small mammal in their jaws.

Success in Finding a Vole

Success in Finding a Vole

They have been getting a little too close, however. They are beautiful creatures, no doubt. Watching them, even knowing they are there, is comforting. I like to know we still have predators about. But when they walk right next to the house I wonder if we might have a conflict at some point. I have walked out and made some noise now a couple of times. That scares them off, at least for now.

Walking past the house

Walking past the house

They may den in the woods nearby this spring. This time of year is when they typically start seeking out sites for that, so we may be seeing them for a while. Then again, this may just be a good place to find a few meals for a while. I suppose we will find out over the next few weeks.